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CHAST Templeton Lecture

The Foundations of Quantum Mechanics: From Einstein's Critique to Quantum Communication and Quantum Computation

Presented by Anton Zeilinger, from the University of Vienna and Austrian Academy of Sciences.

In his criticism of quantum mechanics, Albert Einstein focused in the physics of individual quantum systems. For example he criticised the inherent randomness of individual events ("God does not play dice") or quantum entanglement of particle pairs as "spooky". He specifically stressed the difficulties of defining an observation-independent reality. In his criticism, he turned out to be not correct.

Beginning in the 1970s experiments initially realising early gedanken experiments led to a plethora of new phenomena. Surprisingly, these experiments opened up the new field of quantum computation and quantum communication.

The talk will focus on recent experiments. Also, a few examples will be given of how those fundamental points which Einstein criticised have become cornerstones of quantum communication, quantum teleportation, and quantum computation. A most interesting result in quantum computation is blind quantum computation, which enables absolute security in a future quantum internet.

Finally, the status of the fundamental questions today will be reviewed and possible future developments will be discussed.

Speaker Biography:

Anton Zeilinger is currently Director of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna.

Professor Zeilinger is best known for his work on the foundations of quantum mechanics and their applications in quantum information technology, such as quantum computation and cryptography. He has been a pioneer in the areas of entanglement and more recently quantum interference for macroscopic molecules. His work on the teleportation of quantum information over increasingly large distances has been widely covered in the mainstream press. In 2005 The New Statesman named Zeilinger (along with Barack Obama) as one of the ten people who could change the world.

He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2010 Wolf Prize in Physics, the Inaugural Isaac Newton Medal from the Institute of Physics (UK, 2008) and the King Faisal Prize (2005).